Xerox Corp.

Equipped with an arsenal of digital printing and high-tech inserting gear, the 42-employee print and mail operation at Physicians Mutual processes between 30 and 35 million mail pieces a year for the health and life insurance company.

Quality, efficiency and cost. Those were the three areas that Penn State University’s Multimedia & Print Center (MPC) sought to improve when it recently installed a new Presstek 52DI digital offset press.

Graph Expo is only nine days away, and the show is expected to draw an impressive number of in-plants. One reason for this is the strong focus on in-plants this year, to include sessions, receptions and networking opportunities specifically for in-house print managers.

The In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association conference brought 150 in-plant managers together in Kansas City recently.

Regina (Gina) Testa, vice president, Graphic Communications Industry Business, Xerox Corp., is the recipient of the 2012 Naomi Berber Memorial Award. This award honors outstanding women in the graphic communications industry for their exceptional record of accomplishments. 

When Colgate University Document & Mail Services installed its Xerox iGen3 in 2008, the 10-employee in-plant was very happy with the results. But a lot can change in a few years. “The business model we had five years ago...has changed considerably,” notes Director Bob Keats. “With the iGen, there was no way to hook any finishing equipment to it. We had a space limitation.” So booklet making had to be handled offline. 

Logistics Management Institute recently upgraded the finishing capabilities of its Office Services department by installing a new Duplo near-line booklet making system in its McLean, Va., facility. Comprising the DSF-2000 sheet feeder, the DBM-500 booklet maker, the slit/cut/crease unit, and the ASM-500 square spine module, the new equipment is being used to produce marketing material and signature booklets for LMI, and to score tri-fold flyers and cards.

Fujifilm will show the J Press 720 inkjet press. Heidelberg will present Prinect Digital Workflow Integration. New features for the Kodak NexPress platform will be shown.

Since 1977, the Texas Association of College and University Printers (TACUP) conference has been bringing in-plants together from all over the Lone Star State. This year’s event will take place in San Antonio, from October 21-24, hosted by the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio.

Don't tell the Blue Valley School District of Overland Park, Kan., that the digital age is cutting into the need for hard copy documents. Its Printing Services operation has been humming away all summer, delivering on as many as 40,000 job orders to satisfy about 3,100 teachers at 35 schools.